Real-time and multi-resolution rendering of the infrared characteristics for large-scale terrains

As a low-cost, efficient, digital simulation tool, real-time rendering of the infrared characteristics for large-scale terrains is typically interdisciplinary involving the rapid computation of heat transfer and infrared physics models, as well as tools associated with pattern recognition and computer graphics. This paper proposes an integrated real-time method that renders the infrared characteristics of large-scale terrains based on the classification of remote-sensing images in the visible band which can be obtained more conveniently. An energy balance model for terrains composed of different surface materials is established. This model is used in calculating the infrared characteristics of different terrain features and in generating a multi-resolution texture pyramid with the classification information. The infrared calculation results were verified by comparing with results from real world data. Out-of-core rendering method is used to load the mesh data and textures of the large-scale terrains. The process meets real-time demands when rendering terrain composed of over 200 GB mesh data and 15 LOD (level of detail).